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Cool Mavic down before flying in the cold?

gregw

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I'll be flying out for a ski vacation tomorrow and bringing the Mavic..

I've done all my reading in this and other forums about jello in cold weather and hope my Mavic doesn't have this issue, but won't know until my first flight. I'm also aware that I need to keep the batteries warm prior to take off, but have found no information whether I should leave the Mavic out in the cold for 10-15 minutes to acclimate to the low temperatures first before flying or if it's OK to fly the Mavic immediately after getting out of a warm car..

Any advice would be greatly appreciated..
 
Living in Alaska, I've been wondering this myself, it was recommended for my 350QX, I don't know why it wouldn't be the same for the Mavic?


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My experience as a photographer, is that you might experience condensation on the lens, if you take the warm Mavic directly into the cold.
YMMV.

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I think I will try it both ways... I'll probably try flying the Mavic directly from a warm car, just start up on the landing pad, then hover for a minute to make sure everything works as it should then fly it... If I get jello or there are issues, then I'll try putting the Mavic by itself out to cool down for 10 minutes then putting in the warm battery to fly...

I was warned that condensation happens only when bringing in the Mavic from the cold, not when going from warm to cold... Anyway, we'll see...

Looking forward to recording my first epic snow sceneries on the Mavic... :D
 
I think I will try it both ways... I'll probably try flying the Mavic directly from a warm car, just start up on the landing pad, then hover for a minute to make sure everything works as it should then fly it... If I get jello or there are issues, then I'll try putting the Mavic by itself out to cool down for 10 minutes then putting in the warm battery to fly...

I was warned that condensation happens only when bringing in the Mavic from the cold, not when going from warm to cold... Anyway, we'll see...

Looking forward to recording my first epic snow sceneries on the Mavic... :D
I've done a lot of winter flying now. I started off by acclimatizing the mavic first without battery installed. Was getting the video shake you described. But after dec 26th firmware update, I can fly in -30°c without acclimatizing the mavic and get perfect image quality. No shake or jitters. So make sure you have the newest firmware it really does fix the cold weather video quality. Also you will get battery warning saying battery is below 15°. I have not had an issue yet, just keep them fairly warm, in your pocket. You can also hover low for a couple minutes to help drone/battery warm up if it's extremely cold
 
I live and fly in Colorado. Been flying this Winter in temps as low as 19F/-7C (which is about as cold as my hands can tolerate). I keep the batteries warm (relative) and the Mavic at whatever temperature, meaning I don't go to any lengths to keep it warm but also don't leave it out to "cool down". I take it out of my Truck put the battery in and fly. In between flights it sits out.

I've not had any issues with condensation on my camera lens or on the drone. I've flown my P4 in light "drier" snow and have not had any issues...

DJI should come out with a battery warmer for the Mavic like they have for the Inspire...
 
The risk of condensation on the lens is from inside as the outer glass will cool very rapidly when you first go out.
The reason for jello seems so hard to pin down but seems no doubt cold weather can exacerbate it, or rather it can be worse at certain temperatures but there's not much consistency so yours may or may not be affected.
 
Thanks for the input from your experiences... I'll update this thread once I've flown in cold weather... Temps there are forecast to be around -2C to -10C so we'll see..
 
Bring your ND filters, as much of the jello is exacerbated by the high shutter speeds produced in bright snow scenes.
 
Flown plenty of times in the cold with no issues. I don't cool down the bird at all, I just fly right away and haven't had any issues. Just remember to keep the batteries warm as the one time I accidentally left the battery in my bag for 15 minutes in the cold I got a cold battery warning and had to bring it back in.


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